Friday, 29 August 2008

This has been a rather pleasant week, I have been able to get quite a bit of stitching done. I have finished a new stitch, Home Sweet Home by Elizabeth's Designs. It's a pretty quick stitch, but I had to stop when I found I didn't have the beads that I needed. Luckily I was able to find them on the weekend, so I finished this one off quickly.

I have also completed my stitching for the next round of the LHN RR. I am really trying hard to finish all my commitments before the baby is born. This is Melissa's LHN RR and she has chosen the theme of the Dear Diary Pillows. I had chosen Faith as my square to stitch.

I decided it was time to do some finishing, so I took out the lovely squares that Clare gave me for Fair & Square Round #7 and finished them into a lovely pillow. I still have a few more to finish, but I am not sure what to do with them yet.

On Friday, we finally we able to get the car back. It looks as good as new and you wouldn't be able to tell where the repairs and paint matching were done. This is a real relief as we feel much less constrained about where we travel and park, we are always a little cautious with a hire car.

Yesterday I succumbed to weakness and joined the new round robin group, Me, Myself and I Round Robins. I am actually looking forward to this as it doesn't start until December 31st, so it gives me plenty of time to come up with a plan. I am thinking that I would like to stitch my neighbourhood using Prairie Schooler designs. So keep an eye out in the next few months for my planning diagrams.

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Today is my birthday! Not much to share, unfortunately I didn't receive any stitching gifts this year. My partner in the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club has either sent the parcel late or forgotten all together. Oh, well!

I am going to spend the day in Sydney on Sunday with DH and my daughter. He is going to take me to lunch and then it lots of shopping after that. I think I will just have to spoil myself.

It's a pretty boring birthday this year. I hope that it's not a sign of birthdays to come.

Monday, 18 August 2008

On Friday my little Chicken, Aurelia, turned two years old. I just can't believe where the time has gone. Only the other day I was washing some of her newborn clothes ready for baby number two and can't remember her ever being that small.

Aurelia - 1 week old

She received so many presents, I think we need to buy a bigger house just to fit them all in. Her favourite gift was this lovely little jumper that her Nan sent her. As soon as she saw it, she just had to wear it. When we went shopping, she had to tell all the shop attendants that it was her new jumper.

On Saturday, she had another major milestone. Aurelia swam on her own with the instructor for most of the lesson. DH just lazed around on the edge of the pool watching her until almost the end of the lesson. If she can keep this up for another few weeks, then it will definitely be time to move up to the next level. This means no Mum or Dad in the pool to cling to, just her and a few other children and the instructor in the big pool.

On Sunday we had a birthday party for Aurelia. It was just a small gathering of family and friends. She was very excited and instructed DH that he had to put balloons around everywhere. I made a simple butter cake and DH very happily decorated the cake as a clock with a little mouse on it. He said he had great fun doing it and I think he did a fantastic job. Again she received so many presents, I just don't know where to put them all. Her favorite gift today is this little egg chair she received from my DB and SIL. She also has a shopping trolley that she is selling fruit from to me and DH. See DH gave her the idea that if she sold him a plastic banana he would give her a dollar to put into her piggy bank. Now all she wants to do is sell me more fruit.

Friday, 8 August 2008

This week has been quite busy on the stitching front. I completed the squares for Dani for Fair & Square Round #8 and now that she has received them, I can share them with you. Dani wanted a red Quaker theme, so this is what I came up with.

I also completed Sonda's blogaversary gift. It's a design from Elizabeth's Needleworks Design and I tried for the first time to finish a pillow with a floral fabric backing. It was all stitched by hand as I don't have a sewing machine and I must say that I am pretty impressed with how it turned out. It wasn't quite as difficult as I thought and I think I will be doing plenty more of these in the future, especially for Christmas ornaments.

Design: Special Stitcher

Designer: Elizabeth's Needlework Designs

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Linen - Platinum

Thread: DMC

Finish: Pillow Finish

I have also stitched more on my 12 Blessings of Christmas. I have completed the writing on the bottom and have finished the August square. I thought I should also show you a photo of July's square, as I think I forgot to all about it last month.

I have also put in some good stitching on my Bent Creek Red Thread. I have completed the May and June squares and some more of the border (which I have forgotten to photograph).

Finally, I have also put some more stitches into Black Willow Farm. I am so close to finishing this one, so I am already planning my new starts.

I can thank the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games for providing me with plenty of stitching time. It didn't start until 9.50pm our time, so there was lots of waiting around. So here's to the Olympic Games.

My pregnancy is coming along nicely, I am now in my 33rd week. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I am feeling pretty good, although it seems to feel like a bigger strain on the body this time round. I get tired very quickly and lots of walking makes my stomach muscles hurt. At least the finish line is in sight!

To those who asked, the damage on the car doesn't look that bad, but it's much worse when the back door is opened. The repairer said that the door will need to be replaced and that the rear quarter panel of the car needs to be cut out and completely replaced. Then the rear bumper also needs replacing and then the suspension needs checking and the wheels realigned. That's why it's going to take so long to have the car repaired. Also the car was taken off the road as the assessor was concerned that the rear suspension may have been damaged by the collision. It looks like we should have the car back by around the 18th of this month.